


Afraid Of Your Own Shadow

by Phoebeus



Series: These Days We Celebrate [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Confrontations, Gen, M/M, pre-puzzleshipping feelings, romantic or platonic at your discretion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-09-28 15:59:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10131569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoebeus/pseuds/Phoebeus
Summary: The question is, just what is it that Yuugi fears? And is he the only one filled with dread?[Installment in "These Days We Celebrate" - A series focused on Yuugi & Yami no Yuugi's bond between the defeat of Pegasus and introduction of Otogi.]





	1. Chapter 1

**:: Oct 31 - Halloween ::**

“Happy Halloween, everyone!”

“Eh?” Jounouchi peeled his face off of his desk to blink sleepily up at the pale-haired boy who had just walked into the classroom. “What’s that?”

“Is it Halloween already?” Anzu asked from her own seat, pausing in pulling out her books to shoot the new arrival a surprised look. “I never would have guessed, I've been so focused on our class preparations for the cultural festival that I didn't even notice October was over... Were you looking forward to it, Bakura-kun?”

“Ah, I suppose so!” Bakura answered with a laugh, scratching the back of his head as his grin took on something of an awkward weight. “It’s nothing special, of course. There are no events or anything like what we're having Sunday.”

“You should have told us earlier!” Yuugi exclaimed with a grin, just as he finished gathering and packing up his Duel Monster cards. The ones he had been considering with Jounouchi’s sleepy input until class started for the morning. “We could have planned to hang out tonight to celebrate somehow! After all, we all managed get lucky with the festival, and don't have to do anything except serve food on Sunday.”

“Speak for yourself, Yuugi-kun,” Anzu cut in, shooting the boy a lighthearted glare that he returned with a grin and sheepish laugh.

“Right, sorry Anzu-chan. You have to perform in the contest, huh? But, my point is, even though I don't have to help here, I already promised Grandpa that I would work in the shop this evening, so I'm busy.”

“Same here,” Honda echoed, grimacing as he shook his head. “Sorry, man. If I had known it was a special day, I would have asked my sister to put off our family dinner until tomorrow.”

“Haha, no, that’s okay,” Bakura assured them as he took his seat. “I appreciate it, but I already adjusted my plans, since the gathering fell through. I don’t normally play video games, but a salesman at a store I went to pointed out this neat-sounding horror game,” he explained, pulling a dark colored cartridge out of his school bag to show them. “And I decided to splurge and buy it. I’m going to celebrate tonight by playing it… _Say_ , would you guys like to borrow it after I am done? I know we can’t play it together, but we could at least talk about it once we all get a chance to play!”

“Aaauu _uhhmmm_ -” Jounouchi _leaned_ into the sound he made, just as he leaned away from his friend and the game that he held up. “I, think I’ll pass on that one, thanks.”

“I don’t usually have enough patience for games like that,” Anzu excused herself with an apologetic grin as Honda shook his head.

“Yeah, I uh- doubt I’d be any good at that sort of thing.”

“Ah,” Bakura answered simply, maintaining his smile even as the enthusiasm clearly drained from his face. He turned to the last of the group, asking with the casual distraction of an afterthought. “You too, Yuugi-kun?”

Yuugi stared at the eerie looking cover for a long, hesitant moment… and then nodded with a tentative smile. “No, I’d like to try it.”

“-Really?” Bakura started at the answer, blinking into a much more natural expression of _shock_ \- while behind him, Jounouchi pulled his tired head back off of his desk to squint his way.

“Seriously, Yuugi?”

* * *

_I have to say, that surprises me too, aibou. I would never expect you to pick up a game like that._

“Haha, well- I felt bad for Bakura-kun,” Yuugi explained with a smile, shrugging for the figure floating at his side.

The day had passed without incident, even if the class readings had been hard and lunch had been rushed, since he forgot his food in his locker and had had to run back and forth from the roof… but Yuugi was finally headed home, and his other self had popped into view the moment Anzu waved goodbye and went her own way.

It was becoming something of a ritual between the two, the boy and the spirit. Any day Yuugi found himself alone after school, the other Yuugi would join him for the walk home. Cover those last few blocks _with_ him as they shared details about what happened that day, and considered what they would like to do that evening. Then the spirit would disappear, just as Yuugi’s grandfather welcomed him home. Yuugi would be effectively ‘on his own’ as he tackled his shop work, chores, and homework, since his family would be about and he had to focus. But the moment he finished, he and his other self would always have the _whole_ rest of the evening to play and talk as they liked!

It was kind of cool. Even Yuugi’s mom was pretty happy with him lately. She approved of how he rushed to get his work done the moment he came home… save on weekends. She didn’t like how he delayed _then_. But, Yuugi just didn’t see any reason to hit the books on Saturday when he had all of Sunday to worry about it- and all Saturday afternoon to focus on his friends and his other self!

At least, when it wasn't a holiday weekend, like that one.

In general, though, Yuugi had stumbled into a nice, functional routine, and he thought his _other self_ liked it, too. The other Yuugi had been kind of awkward when his vessel first sought to talk to him, share conversations without any real topic in mind. It just seemed to baffle the spirit that Yuugi would like talking to him for its own sake.

Now, though?

Yuugi grinned just _remembering_ how he had said goodbye to Anzu, and turned around to find the spirit already there beside him, smiling as he asked how his day had been.

They had gotten as far as that morning chat with Bakura.

“I am a little wary to try it out, given the gritty details Bakura-kun shared during lunch, but it _is_ a game, and I thought, maybe it will actually be _fun_ , as long as I don’t play it alone?” He said it like a question, shooting his other an open side-stare. He wasn’t about to insist – he didn’t like playing something with his other self that they didn’t _both_ enjoy – but he was still relieved when the spirit snorted with obvious understanding, and grinned.

_I would be happy to stay with you while you play it. There’s no harm in at least giving it a try. As you say, it **is** a game._

“Right!” Yuugi beamed with a grin, earning an answering mute cheer from the other… only for the spirit’s expression to darken with tense alarm as-

There was no sound, no warning beyond that look.

Yuugi just felt someone grab him and _shove_ him sideways.

“Huh- _Gh_ -!” He barely got out a breath, his cry choked into his throat as he landed in arms that spun and _slammed_ him against a wall, sending pain crashing up his back.

_Aibou!_

That sharp call cut through the pain, making him curl forward, jolting Yuugi to stand upright- only to freeze and press himself against the wall as he took in his situation.

He was surrounded. Surrounded, by men, years older than him, most twice his size. The details swam with his vision, and all he could focus on was the one who hung in close, right in front of him.

The scene was far, far too familiar- and Yuugi had been pinned down in one or seventeen similar predicaments, and he knew enough to tense all the more when he saw no jeers or amusement in the man’s pale eyes. Just cold calculation.

“You’re _late_ , boy.”

“W, what do you-” He started to ask. But he clammed up as his gaze skimmed the scene, instinctually striving to take in as much as he could, and he noticed the man just to the left, juggling a blade in his hands.

And the others? A couple more were also holding blades. And the rest? They were making due with planks of wood, which they slammed against their own palms with rhythmic hits.

 _Thump, thump_.

Yuugi could feel it with each slam of that wood- his other’s alarm and rage, stirring beneath him, somewhere between his skin and the wall at his back.

“We’ve been watching you for a few days now, noticed you always come by here, that you come around _this_ time. That you’re always wearing _that_ -”

The spirit’s fury sparked around him, but it was all but drowned out Yuugi’s own alarm as the man pointed at the Puzzle.

He reached up and clutched the gold to his chest, steeling himself to frown up at them even as they ignored him, talking to one another.

“I still don’t think that thing is real.”

“Shut it, Soto. I’m telling you, that thing’s a hunk of gold waiting to be cashed.”

“And even if it isn’t-” the man right in front of Yuugi cut in, never taking his eyes off of the boy. “We’re likely to find someone we can pawn it off on. So, kid, are we going to have to do this the hard way?”

 _Let me deal with him, aibou_ , the sole familiar voice hissed at him, but it was still more request than insistence, and the, the very idea, that they wanted to take the _Puzzle_ -

Yuugi found he wasn’t ready to take his own glare off of the man.

“The easy way, or hard way, you’re not taking my Puzzle.”

The man… he didn’t even deign to answer him. Didn’t even laugh or snort.

He just hit him.

The move was so quick- so _hard_ \- that Yuugi staggered. He- his head was bursting. He had hit him _right in the ear_ , and he- he couldn’t-

His vision swam, and with it went any sense of where his pain and his other’s fury and their alarm began or ended, and he started to fall-

The tight pressure at his throat was what woke him enough to realize, the man had the Puzzle in his hand.

“N-no-” He reached up to pull at the cord, taunt about his neck. It would actually be really easy to get loose, duck his head and pull away. But- but he _couldn’t let him have it_ -

And when the man pulled out a blade of his own and moved to cut the cord, Yuugi didn’t think.

He just moved.

Shoved forward, and slapped the hand and the knife both away.

The numb sting at his fingers told him he had cut himself, but he didn’t look down to see.

“ _Tsh_ -”

He almost expected it when a foot met his gut, and he slammed back into the wall.

It, it hurt, but at least the man had let go of the Puzzle…

“I think he wants to do it the hard way, Tsuchie.”

“Hmph… thankfully, we came prepared, didn’t we? Get ready, boys. We might have to make a run for it.”

“What…” Yuugi looked between the group, and stared in confusion as one guy towards the back pulled a glass bottle out, and started messing with it.

‘Tsuchie’, however, was happy to explain, “If you’re going to put up a fight and make a scene, we’re just going to have to _take it_ from you, and make sure that you can’t cry foul afterwards. You’ve heard about the ‘arson assaults’ happening lately, haven’t you?”

He hadn’t, but it wasn’t hard to put together what Tsuchie was getting at, and Yuugi forgot to breathe as the guy handed Tsuchie the bottle of strange liquid and rolled fabric… and the thug pulled out a lighter.

“Now hand over that necklace, or I’ll hold you down, cut your throat, and take it anyways- and drop _this_ in your lap to burn away what’s left of you.”

_Let me burn him._

The request was so steady, such an echo of what had been said out loud, that Yuugi didn’t really think to question it. But still he shook his head, his skull pounding too much to even answer properly. “ _Mou- mou hito_ -”

Before he could even get the name out, he was being pushed back, shoved out of the way and sent spiraling into weightless space. It didn’t hurt, though. Yuugi didn’t feel anything at all. His senses had gone numb, and the pained fog in his head had instantly dissipated. He- he just- he just had to catch his equilibrium, right himself, and-

_Mou hitori no boku?_

He had called that time in concern, not confusion, for when he righted himself? He discovered that he was just outside of his body, hovering to ‘his’ left, where he could see the pain flashing over ‘his’ face.

His other was feeling that pain now. Fighting through it to stare up at Tsuchie.

“I’ll scream.”

The thug arched a brow as someone chuckled, and Yuugi held the breath he could not take.

Did- did he really think that would-

“The street out there is crowded. Even if you lean down _right now_ and cut me, I’ll catch someone’s attention before you can get away. You could get identified. _But_ -” He rushed on, emphasizing the word as Tsuchie narrowed his eyes in consideration/ Consideration Yuugi and his other could not afford to leave him free to make. “I could give it to you.”

Yuugi could guess where he was going with this, but still his ‘heart’ went up in his throat at the words, and he tensed as his other struggled to stand under Tsuchie’s watch and words.

“Oh? Then you’ve thought better of it, and are going to hand it over without a peep?”

“I will… if you can win it.”

 _Don’t bet yourself!!_ He cried out, but his other did not reply. Did not even look his way, or blink as he stared up at the openly amused man.

“Win? What are you getting at, shrimp?”

“I _mean_ , a game. The first one to scream,” he explained, gaze slowly skimming the faces around him before he finished landed back on Tsuchie with the last word. “-loses. Whoever keeps his head, can have the Puzzle.”

“What’s he going on about?” one guy asked, turning to another.

“I don’t know, is it some sort of bluff?”

“He sounds crazy to me.”

But Tsuchie snorted, caught by _something_ in the other Yuugi’s stare enough to say, “I think he _means_ it, boys. He thinks he can get out of this by _scaring_ us. How? You have a shiv hidden down your pants, kid?”

“I don't have a shiv. No weapon,” the spirit assured, and something in the sheen of his red eyes made Yuugi shiver- whether in dread or anticipation, he could not say. “I have nothing on me to defend myself with, or attack you.”

 _That’s the give-_ Yuugi mumbled, the words hovering in the air between them as ‘spoken’ thoughts, making the other Yuugi’s gaze flicker for a breath, but never shift enough to acknowledge him. _There’s something there, in that, ‘nothing to defend myself or attack with'. How are you going to twist that?_

The other did not answer.

And Tsuchie snorted again, sharing a checking smirk with the others before shrugging. “ _Fine_ , kid. This should be funny. I’ll play. I’ll even give you a five second head start.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” the spirit in Yuugi’s skin mumbled, gaze sliding down to their feet with a quietness that made Yuugi’s nerves scatter.

What- what was he-

The others laughed at the tiny teen.

“ _Sure_ , take it. Play your game.”

“As you wish…” the other Yuugi mumbled, only for the Puzzle and his brow to glow as his voice rose with a sharp “GAME START.”

“Huh?!”

The guys. They were all blinking and looking around… as if blinded.

_5_

And Yuugi could only watch, baffled as the rest of them, as the spirit stepped forward, yanking something out of Tsuchie’s hand.

“Who grabbed my lighter?!”

_4_

“What’s going on?!”

“What’d that guy do?!”

The other Yuugi danced around Tsuchie’s seeking hands and grabbed the bottle, too, twisting it out of his grip.

_3_

“Dammit, guys, I can’t see!”

“How did he do that?!”

It was like time slowed as Yuugi watched his other light the bottle-

_2_

-and step into the group long enough to put it into one of the _other_ men’s hands?

Yuugi could only blink through the curses and calls as his other slid away from the confused thug-

_1_

-and stepped into the shadow of a large rolling garbage bin parked nearby.

“We’ve won,” the spirit breathed, barely even whispering. But Yuugi heard, and could only look on uncertainly. It might well work, yes. Make the men shriek as they tossed the Molotov away before it could go off. But there was a good chance they would get it away from them and spot the boy behind the garbage can. And if they all managed not to scream in the process-

_0_

“H-hey-” one of the guys said as he blinked around him, taking in his surroundings. “It passed!”

“I can see, too! What the _hell_ was that-”

“Hey, where did the kid go?!”

“Nosaka…” It was Tsuchie that cut into the barrage of questions, drawing everyone’s attention to what _he_ was staring at… The lit cocktail in ‘Nosaka’s’ hand.

“What are you doing with the gold?”

Comprehension, it wasn’t as quick as Yuugi might have liked, but he at least mirrored Nosaka’s shock, and his instant struggle to understand. But where Nosaka stumbled over claims of “I don’t know how that got there-” and “W-what do you think I did?!” Yuugi could only stare with a dawning, _cold_ realization.

“Their greed has blinded them, _aibou_ ,” mumbled the spirit as he peered around the bin, watching as the men started to yell at one another. “I made them mistake it for the Puzzle. The illusion will wear off in, less than ten seconds… But they won’t make it that long.”

 _No_ , Yuugi breathed. Not because he doubted the success of the gamble, but- he could see. He could _see_ the plan as it was now. He saw what his other was aiming for.

He saw in his mind’s eye, the men fighting over the bottle, dropping it, catching on fire-

And he could only stare, terrified, as Tsuchie moved to _grab_ the lit Molotov cocktail, and Nosaka jerked it away.

“No, they’re not going to last even five,” the other Yuugi corrected as a scuffle began, and when his words - the flat, cold timbre of them – rolled through Yuugi's ear, he jerked around with a start.

_Mou hitori no boku!!_

Finally, the spirit looked at him.

And whatever he saw trapped him.

The two… they stared at one another. And Yuugi didn’t know _what_ his other saw in his face. But whatever it was, it shattered the spirit’s composure. The certainty left his eyes as he glanced between his partner, and the scene before him… and before Yuugi could give voice to the protests that had risen in his heart, his other was moving-

He ran forward, slamming into the middle of the scuffle, yanking a plank of wood from some random hand.

And if Yuugi had had a body for it, he would have screamed as Tsuchie looked up and stared, dumbfounded, at the boy suddenly at his elbow. “What are you- _aaa_ , _dam_ -” He cursed as the other Yuugi _swung_ , hitting the bottle and catching a few of Tsuchie’s fingers in the bargain.

They were probably broken, but that mattered little when the bottle sailed into a wall and shattered, setting all of the trash beneath it on fire.

The men bolted back from the flames, screaming- and the other Yuugi _won his game_.

He didn’t stop to take in that fact, though, much less confront the losers. He just dropped the wood and turned, ran for the street, dove between stalling, confused pedestrians who could only watch as a group of teens stumbled out of the alleyway.

And Yuugi… Yuugi could only trail after his other, mind still reeling from what he just saw.

_Wait! Stop!_

It was no good, though. The other Yuugi did not stop, look up, or respond to Yuugi’s calls. He just kept running, until finally he slammed into the side of the Kame Game shop, hacking from lost breath and smearing blood on the bricks with Yuugi’s cut hand.

… _Mou hitori no boku_ …

Yuugi easily kept up. He didn’t need to _run_ while hovering as a spirit. But somehow, he still felt exhausted himself as he ‘stood’ there, just behind his other, waiting for him to speak.

But, he _didn’t_ speak. And when again Yuugi’s calls earned him nothing, he did the only thing he could think to do. He moved to merge back into the body, to share the flesh, where the two would be so close there would be no space for his other to ‘turn away’ from him.

But the moment he was back in his own body? The spirit moved, too. Disappeared into the Puzzle.

Yuugi blinked down at the gold, slowly raising his uncut hand to cradle the side of the pyramid.

 _Mou hitori no boku_?

…He didn’t answer.


	2. Chapter 2

**:: Nov 1 - Halloween ::**

“Morning, Yuugi!” Jounouchi gasped as he tumbled into the school entry way, passing the boy without really looking at him in his rush to get to his shoe cupboard. He started kicking off his sneakers before he even reached it, and one bounced into a lower box, forcing him to bend down and fish it out again as he called over his shoulder. “Man, is it pouring outside! I near  _swam_  my way here! It’s a good thing traffic was low thanks to the rain, or I’d have missed the gate closing for sure! Looks like luck was on my side after all… Hey, what’s with you?”

He had finally gotten both of his shoes in hand and stood up, only to stall when he got a proper look at his friend, and realized Yuugi was just _standing_ there, staring into his own shoe locker with his white school slippers in hand. He looked like he had been in the midst of putting them on when he had just, stopped, to stare at nothing.

“Yuugi? … _hey_ , Yuugi!”

Dazed violet eyes blinked back into focus as the boy turned his head Jounouchi’s way, but the taller teen only frowned the harder when he saw the baggage behind his friend’s grin. “Oh, hey, Jounouchi-kun.”

“ _Hey_ , yourself. Now what gives?”

“Ah, sorry. I just wanted to try one more time before class to-” Yuugi cut himself off with a blink down at his own feet, frowning with the effort to regather his thoughts into something he could actually vocalize… And in the end, giving up in favor of sliding his slippers on and moving for the hall.

Which forced Jounouchi to rush and do the same so that he could catch up and ask, “What do you mean, ‘try one more time’? What- Hey, what’s with those bandages?”

“Huh?” Yuugi looked up to see Jounouchi practically  _glaring_  at his face. Or, rather, at his  _cheek_ , prompting the boy to reach up and pick at the gauze that he had all but forgotten about with a hand wrapped in its own array of white strips. “Oh, these. I was cornered by some guys on the way home yesterday.”

“ _What_?!”

“Careful, Jounouchi-kun. You’ll have a teacher breathing down our necks if you yell like that” came the answering warning- not from Yuugi, but from a familiar voice just behind them. The two turned to see Bakura there, grinning at them with sleepy eyes as he rushed to catch up. “Good morning!”

“Morning, Bakura-kun,” Yuugi echoed, grinning lightly for the release of tension the teen’s appearance brought to the hallway. “It’s not like _you_  to run late.”

“Haha, yes, I’m afraid I stayed up too late playing that game I mentioned yesterday. Good thing it’s Saturday, so I can go home after class and get a nap… I brought that game with me, by the way, if you still want it Yuugi-kun. But, what’s this I overheard about ‘some guys’ yesterday?”

“Uh-” Yuugi stumbled at the unexpected turnabout, blinking between the two as they both stared at him – one still frowning, the other misleadingly grinning… And finally just, sighed in defeat.

Thankfully the story was a short one, and he had it out before they even made it up the stairs to the second floor.

“I see…” Bakura mused out loud as they made it up the last steps, focusing up at the ceiling with a dazed concentration, impressively not tripping once in the process. “Sounds like the bullies are dealt with, at least. I doubt they would target you again after that, if they just wanted to make a quick buck off of some gold.”

“Right-” Yuugi agreed. “I changed my route to school and back, too, just in case.”

“Hmph,” Jounouchi sniffed, glowering with clear dissatisfaction. “It still stinks that that’s all that came of the whole thing- It sounds like that Tsuchie guy deserved a good punch in the face.”

Maybe so, but Yuugi still flinched at the suggestion- And Jounouchi stalled his steps when he noticed, uncertainty clouding his face. “Hey, you’re not still worried about that guy, are you?”

“No…” Yuugi shook his head… Before giving way to a sigh, frowning up at his friend as his real concerns finally burst forth. “It’s just,  _mou hitori no boku_ … He hasn’t spoken to me since.”

“-Huh?”

The concept seemed to _baffle_  Jounouchi – as though he couldn’t imagine that even being _possible_  – while Bakura paused his own trek a few steps ahead of them, and turned back to shoot a searching glance at Yuugi. “You mean after he disappeared, when he got you back home?”

Yuugi nodded, taking one hand off of his backpack straps to instead cradle the side of the Puzzle, fingertips curling lightly about the sharp edges. “I’ve called out to him like a dozen times since. Before dinner, after, before bed, this morning- Even down in the entry way there, when Jounouchi found me. But he just, doesn’t answer…”

He could sense he was  _there_ , certainly, but it was nothing but a presence- A  _weight_  in the back of his head, assuring him that his other self hadn’t simply disappeared. He was  _there_ … He just wasn’t acknowledging Yuugi’s efforts to reach him.

It was frustrating- Like someone refusing to answer their phone, even when you _knew_ they had to be home.

“Weird, it’s not like that guy to hide away like that… Does that mean you’re having a fight? What do you think his beef with you is?” Jounouchi asked, words fogged with the lightness of thinking out loud… But Yuugi could only shake his head, the distress of his lack of answer clear in his face.

“I don’t know…” He had his, theories, certainly, but the fact that he couldn’t confirm any of them made his stomach turn.

And it jostled quite precariously when Jounouchi leaned all of his weight on Yuugi’s shoulder, pointing in his face with a determined glare. “In that case, you just got to  _make_  him talk to you! Go in there after him, keep calling until you drive him mad,  _something_ \- Whatever you can do when you’re, body mates or whatever.”

Despite himself, Yuugi had to chuckle.  _Body mates_. “It doesn’t really work that way, Jounouchi-kun-”

“And even if it did, I wouldn’t advice any of that,” Bakura cut in, drawing Yuugi’s attention to the white-haired boy’s soft, but serious stare. “You’ve said before that the other Yuugi likes to be ‘left alone’ sometimes, right? If there’s something on his mind about what happened in that alley, maybe he just has to figure out what he thinks, and what he wants to say, before he’ll feel comfortable facing you, or talking about it.”

“-I guess that’s possible,” Yuugi allowed, the shocked hesitance of his reply failing to properly capture the serious reconsideration taking place inside of his head. For that  _did_  sound pretty characteristic of his other- Hadn’t he seen it before? How the spirit sometimes went silent, when he didn’t know what to say?

But… Would he  _really_  lock himself away like that, ignore direct calls, over a simple loss of words?

“And how long is Yuugi supposed to wait?” Jounouchi countered, his glower frustrated, but not really irritated as he looked at Bakura over their short friend’s head. “Knowing that guy, he could stay tucked away in that Puzzle for the next decade! Unless-” His gaze flicked down to Yuugi, hesitance for whatever occurred to him clear in his eyes, but, still… “You know, if you got in _trouble_ again, maybe-”

“I’m-” Yuugi interrupted, matching Jounouchi sour look for sour look. “- _not_  putting myself in danger just to trick  _mou hitori no boku_  into coming out, Jounouchi-kun.”

“I know that! I was just brain storming, you know! If there was just, some way we could get  _him_  to choose to come out-”

“Guys?” Bakura interrupted, easily drawing the two’s uncomfortable attention elsewhere- To the empty hallway before them. “Has, class already started?”

“… _shit_!”

* * *

And that was that. There was no time for Yuugi to discuss or even think about missing spirits with a teacher berating him and his friends, and keeping a far-too-obvious eye on their attentiveness during the morning lectures.

But even the most dragging of morning classes had to pass eventually. And just when Yuugi thought he could breathe easy, walking home among equally relieved friends, Bakura passed him a game cartridge.

“I finished it late last night, so feel free to give it a try! You can get it back to me during the festival tomorrow if you’re done, but there’s no rush!”

No rush, indeed…

Yuugi hadn’t rushed, at least to get home. He lingered with the others as long as he could, and even stopped by Burger World with Jounouchi and Honda to grab a bite to eat over a couple of duels- At least until they were inevitably kicked out over the game.

And when he  _did_  eventually make it back home, he spent far longer than necessary cleaning the shop and prepping it for the Monday sale, dusting every surface and straightening every display and getting the sales back in order- Until his grandfather finally chased him into the house with a broom, yelling ‘just go relax already’ with a laugh in his voice.

If it had been Mama, she probably would have said ‘just go do your homework’ or something, but his grandpa knew better than to expect that- It was  _Saturday_ , after all. Even with the festival and the sale, Yuugi would surely have time to get it all done by school Tuesday.

So…  _Why_ , when he finally found himself sitting on his bedroom floor, Bakura’s game in hand, was he tempted to set it aside in favor of  _homework_?

The answer was simple enough when Yuugi finally dared to glance down, at the Puzzle… And sighed, shoulders drooping with the release of a weak, but long held tension.

He had been planning to play that game with  _him_ …

And the fact was, he was still unsure what approach he wanted to take with his other. He had been weighing his options in the back of his head all day, and now it was nearing dinner time and he _still_ wasn’t sure if Jounouchi or Bakura had the right of it…

He _had_ left the spirit be since school started that morning, hadn’t called out to him or ‘prodded’ him in any sense, effectively giving him the space Bakura had suggested… And it had earned him nothing. He had been alone in his head all day.

But that was stupid, and he knew it- He _normally_ wouldn’t talk to his other self during school, or while he was with his friends or working. If he had class, then they only really spoke in the early mornings and evenings, so it was basically cheating to count the daytime as part of ‘leaving him be’!

And, yet… Now Yuugi was finally at the point in the day when ‘leaving him be’ would actually account for something, and what was the first thing he wanted to do?

Talk to him.

Yuugi slid his gaze from the Puzzle, to the game, back to the Puzzle... And  _groaned_ , wiping at his face.

It hadn’t even been a  _day_ , wasn’t he being kind of ridiculous about this?!

And, yet… Covering his eyes just made him flash back to it- The look in his other's eyes, when they finally locked gazes… The sight of his back, turned on him…

And he knew… He couldn’t take the ‘leave him alone’ route. At least, not in the truest sense. Not without really  _trying_  first.

Sucking in a slow, long breath, Yuugi dropped his hand… And took off the Puzzle.

He was careful to keep it close to him, even when he finally put it down and let go of it. He knew from late night chats, after he'd already hung the Puzzle on his bedpost, that his other could hear him even if he didn't touch the gold- Proximity was the important thing. And it just felt natural in that moment to set the Item down in front of him, turn it so that he could look into the eye on the front- Like it was his other's own gaze that he shared.

“ _Mou hitori no boku_?”

-no answer.

He hadn’t expected any. It was nothing but a test- A check, just in case, to see if he could ‘feel’ the pressure of his words echoing somewhere beyond the four walls of his bedroom. He couldn’t even describe the sensation, but somehow he knew – if only in his heart – that his words fell where they were meant to be heard… Even if no reply came in return.

“I know you likely want to be left alone, and you're probably mad at me,” he acknowledged, voice lilting with a touch of apology, of self-consciousness as he rolled his fingers in the fabric of his pant legs, the better to fight off the urge to look away, break the ‘stare’ he held with the Puzzle. “But, I just wanted you to know, that  _I’d_  like to see you.” Whether they discussed what happened or not, whether the spirit was  _mad_  at him or not, Yuugi, just…

He didn’t, want to lose him.

That thought felt even sillier than his impatience, but still Yuugi’s eyes flickered off of the Item at the inner-admittance. His gaze caught shyly somewhere between his knees and the Puzzle as he accepted the feeling for what it was… Not a fear of  _literally_  losing the spirit, but- Losing what Yuugi had found with him in the last month. The shared evenings, the morning chats, the hellos and the smiles and all of the nothings in between… The trivial little things that they had discovered together- That were theirs alone.

The other him had finally come out of the shadows… Yuugi had finally come to see something of  _who he was_ beyond the duels and the games. Seen the person hiding behind his own face.

He… Yuugi didn’t want to lose that… To lose sight of him again… 

And the very idea he  _might_  scared him. Scared him more than anything he had seen in that alley.

“…I miss you…”

A few, bare seconds rendered nothing but silence, and within half-a-dozen heartbeats Yuugi deflated into grim acceptance.

“Right-” he mumbled as he scooped the Puzzle back up, putting it on before moving for Bakura’s game.

If he wasn’t waiting on his other, and his friend needed it back by the end of the festival, Yuugi would just have to go it alone.

He was so caught up in his resigned thoughts and efforts to start up the game that he barely noticed it-

A fluttery sensation at his elbow.

It was so light that his glance was more cursory than anything when it flicked the flutter’s way- And his jolt was  _quite_  genuine when he found a person sitting there.

His other self in all of his transparent glory, legs and arms crossed tight as he frowned down at the carpet.

“Ah! You… came!”

The spirit gave a quiet hum in answer… And Yuugi's pleasant surprise tumbled back into uncertainty as he continued to not look up. To not look at him.

 _I am not mad at you, aibou._  

Yuugi blinked for the flat, simple comment- No,  _reply_ , and when his other finally looked up and met his gaze? He realized… The spirit’s frown had never been  _angry_. It was troubled. _Of course I am not- You have done nothing to apologize for._

“O-oh… Well, that’s good!” And his grin might be rickety, thrown as it was between relief and confusion, but it was true enough. “I was afraid after what happened yesterday, and how you disappeared, that you were angry that I got in the way. That I stopped you.”

His other shook his head mutely, giving the most subtle of flinches when Yuugi mentioned how he ‘disappeared’. Seeing that- Yuugi went completely still, the anxious, scattered emotions flitting through him all honing in on a sudden, sharp focus on the spirit… Even if  _he_  had dropped his gaze again to stare at his feet.  _No… I am sorry for not answering you sooner. I was just, unsure what to say._

That was… a very incomplete answer. True, Yuugi could sense that, but still- Very, very incomplete.

But, he could see the struggle to say more in the spirit’s eyes, downturned and still as they were. He- He didn’t  _fidget_  or anything, but Yuugi could just tell that he was torn up about something… Something he couldn’t quite say.

“…if you don’t want to talk about it-” Yuugi began, hesitant to let the issue go- But there was no need to worry. His very invitation was enough to prompt another shake of that transparent head.

 _No, there’s no excuse for keeping silent, if it meant you thinking I was mad at you._  The spirit put out a hand and leaned his weight on it as he slid around to face Yuugi- The move so smooth that his weightlessness  _had_  to be to blame for it, and yet the teen was still left with a distinct impression of natural grace.

There was little room for admiration, though, in the face of the grimace the spirit offered him.  _You are right, aibou. You did stop me… You didn’t say anything, I know. But I saw your face. And when I actually bothered to consider anything outside of the game, I felt what you were feeling._ His hands clenched at his elbows again, where they had slid back into a tight cross, but he didn’t look away- And Yuugi’s own guts churned with the emotions he could see twisting beneath his other’s calm- Though he couldn’t sense them. His other’s side of their bond remained soundly walled off.  _It… I haven’t felt anything like that since you pushed me back, in our duel with Kaiba._

Yuugi- He sucked in a breath before he was even conscious of it, and whatever shock he hadn’t stifled sent his other’s gaze skittering off again, towards the flashing shift of the television screen.

_And, that wasn’t the first time, I felt something like that from you. It’s been like that ever since you became aware of me, hasn’t it? Not always, I know… But there were many other times when the way I play frightened you… When I, frightened you._

Yuugi- He wanted to say no. To deny it, and say that was absolutely not true.

But, those times the other him referred to, brought to mind… Yuugi remembered them, too. He _remembered_ how he had felt- The sort of things he had said.

 ** _“Ever since I solved the Millennium Puzzle… There’s been times when I black out… I think I’m changing into someone I don’t know about… I’m scared… I’m scared of this game- And of the other me!_** ”

 _I did that again, yesterday_ , the spirit went on, the stiff tension gone from his voice and his gaze, replaced by a quiet, flat sort of resignation that made Yuugi’s rapid pulse trip a little faster.  _I scared you… Made you scared of me. And realizing that? That scared me more than anything those men might do if I let them walk away- If I risked them winning._

“You- You didn’t scare me,” Yuugi stammered, the urgency to rush and speak only spiking when his other self met his protest with pained disbelief buried under a strained smirk. “You _didn’t_ … Maybe before, yes, but not yesterday! It’s not the same now… I didn’t know who you were back then, when I first, noticed you there. Not- Not even when we were on the island… Not _really_.”

 _You still don’t know who I am_ \- the spirit tried to counter with a gentle sort of certainty, but Yuugi just shook his head.

“ _No_ , I know who you are now! You’re my other self…  _mou hitori no boku_! You’re my friend, and the spirit who dwells in the Puzzle!” He held up the Item as he spoke, all but glaring into the spirit’s caught gaze as he _insisted_ with fire on his tongue and his pulse beating in his fingertips. “You can be proud, and far more forceful than me, and act on impulses that alarm me- But you’re also strong, and smart, and fun to talk to- And whatever you do, I know that you want nothing more than to protect me, and our friends. You want us to count on you… Just as I wished.” He knew his other didn’t need air as a spirit, but he still thought he heard him suck in a breath as Yuugi dropped his gaze to the Puzzle, his eyes softening with a sudden wonder. “That’s the wish I made, when I solved this- To have friends I could rely on, and who could rely on me. I have that with Jounouchi-kun, and the others, but… I also have that with you, don’t I? And… Was that your wish, too? Was that  _why_  I could solve the Puzzle- Because we shared the same wish?”

 _I…_  The spirit struggled to speak, swallowing shortly as Yuugi raised his gaze to find a shaken, dazed other sitting before him, his own gaze caught on the Item.  _I don’t know… But, what happened yesterday_ -

“ _Mou hitori no boku_?” He waited until the spirit tore his eyes off of the Puzzle, and met his… And slowly smiled. “What did you do when I called out to you?”

 _…yesterday_?

“Yesterday, or with Kaiba-kun… It doesn’t matter. Both times, what did you do?”

Maybe it was the simplicity of the question that threw him, or the warm calm in his partner’s voice when he asked, but something left the spirit speechless, and he could only stare until Yuugi answered for him.

“You stopped. Yesterday, when you saw my reaction? You changed the punishment, made it so that no one got hurt. And, before, with Kaiba? It scared me that you would have been willing to do that, risk his life to win. But you _stepped back_ when I pressed for control, even though I know you could have fought back- Even though you didn’t understand why I did it.”

 _Not then…_  came the stiff, breathless reply, and Yuugi’s lips twitched towards a grin for the reminder. Yes, his other self had come to see Yuugi’s move in a better light later on- Called it the right, stronger move. And that? That was a good memory.

But still- “Yes, but you didn’t at the time, and you _still_ listened to me, and _that’s_  what showed me… No matter what, even if we’re actually two different people, with our own minds, and you might do things I never would… Things that, even frighten me? That’s no reason to fear you, because I know you’ll listen, too.” And that twitch at his lips? It had become a full smile, bright and sure in its stance- And his other’s eyes only seemed to widen further at the sight of it. “That’s why, no matter what, I could never be scared of you… Not anymore. I trust you too much for that… To hear me if I call out to you.”

The finality in his last words was clear enough, proclaimed his piece said… But it was some moments before the spirit unhinged his jaw enough to even attempt words- Much less offer any, save a single, astonished  _Aibou_ …

But there was no rush, and Yuugi would spend all night smiling his sincerity at him, if that was what it took.

It wasn’t necessary. However many seconds it took, his other eventually broke out in a grin to match his own- No, to _outshine_ it. _Thank you! I- You’re right, of course I hear you._  Sobriety was quick to slide back into his expression, but there was a bright conviction there that kept Yuugi’s concern at bay.  _After I saw what Pegasus did, I swore to myself that I would never use a Penalty Game again. But, I see now- I ignored the very spirit of **why**  I made that vow yesterday, when I attempted what I did._

“ _Mou hitori no boku…_ ” Yuugi began, but his other only shook his head, a reassuring smile on his face.

 _No, it’s true… And you were right to stop me. And, even if it **hadn’t**  been the wrong choice… If you do not want me to do something like that again? I won’t. …I hope you will let me protect you, if it comes to that, but I swear- I won’t do anything but, stop an attack, if that’s what you want… I’ll try not to hurt anyone. But no matter what, I swear- I will  **never**  ignore your voice_.

When- When the spirit began speaking, Yuugi’s breath caught in his throat, and his heart hammered with hope for the promises he heard… But that last?

 _That_  drew nothing but a calm, knowing smile… And an easy “I know.”

It was a mute reaction for such fervent declarations- But apparently it was just the right one, because his other’s face split with a grin like none Yuugi had ever seen… And no sight could have been more reassuring to him in that moment.

No- It was a grand sight, and smacked Yuugi with a thrill so sudden that a laugh bubbled up out of him. And his other- He was laughing, too. Not so much out loud, but the bond that had been like a wall between them in the last day was back- Humming with distant, but clear relief, happiness, and gratitude.

All emotions that jumbled together in a tangle between their hearts and found a voice as laughter.

In time, though, Yuugi calmed down enough to gasp for air, rubbing subtly at his cheek before grinning up at the spirit. “So, we’re good?”

 _Of course_ came the instant reply, paired with a smirk that only made Yuugi grin the wider.

“Good, because I didn’t know what I was going to do if I had to play that game without my partner!” 

The use of the term echoed back at him made the spirit arch his brows in amused surprise, but Yuugi could only laugh. No, ‘the other me’ just felt more natural… But apparently he had made his point, for there was an easy levity in his other’s voice when he answered that, honestly, Yuugi could not recall ever hearing before.

_Then, do you need me to take over for you, **aibou**?_

Yuugi snorted, grinning his awareness that the spirit was teasing him… Yes,  _teasing_  him, of all things! “No way! I can handle it just fine- Just watch me,  _mou hitori no boku_!”

 _Always_  was all the reply he got- But it was all he needed to scoot around and pick up his game controller, confident in the company of a content, happy other.

* * *

And all fears for their bond left Yuugi be for the rest of the night.

 _Other_  fears, however-

“Oh god, I’m trapped! The thing’s on the other side of the door, I can’t get out-”  

_I think you can back out of the room by that other door, just-_

“ **AH!** ”

_-!_

“Did- Did that thing just eat me?”

_…_

“Oh my god! I heard it _crunch_!!”

_…I do not like this game anymore, aibou._

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and like, and head over to my [FF.net account](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2072972/Phoebe-Delos) to place a vote on which stories I update!


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